However, following the fighters’ effective and dominant – yet somewhat unpopular – performances, UFC president Dana White hardly seemed to share their enthusiasm for the potential championship rematch.

Fitch, who lost initial UFC 111 opponent Thiago Alves a day before the fight because of a failed CT scan, instead took on late replacement Ben Saunders, who volunteered for the bout on the eve of the Newark, N.J. show. UFC matchmaker Joe Silva agreed, Saunders’ original opponent, Jake Ellenberger, got his show and win money, and Fitch vs. Saunders was set.

Fitch (22-3 MMA, 12-1 UFC), a former Purdue University wrestling team captain, posted a familiar performance: He used takedowns, a stifling top game, and good ol’ ground and pound to post a unanimous-decision win. Fitch’s past six wins have all come via decision in a similar manner. The string of wins was interrupted by – and Fitch’s only defeat in the Octagon was the result of – a lopsided unanimous-decision loss to champ St-Pierre at UFC 87 in 2008.

Since then Fitch has won four straight and is anxious for another shot at the belt.

And after watching St-Pierre’s similarly lopsided (and thus far, largely criticized) title defense over Dan Hardy, Fitch is even more eager to exploit what he sees as holes in the champ’s game.

“It was a good fight for him, but I still see flaws in his game, and that’s why I want to fight him,” Fitch said of St-Pierre. “There’s nothing that means more to me right now than fighting for the title.

“I’m 12-1 in the UFC with my lone loss to GSP. I’ve won my last four fights. I wish they would have all been finishes, but it doesn’t always work out that way. But I’m a better fighter than the first time we fought.”

St-Pierre (20-2 MMA, 14-2 UFC), who said he simply spent too much time on submissions after deciding it’d go “against the odds” to stand and trade with such a dynamic striker as Hardy, was just as critical (if not more so) than anyone after the performance. He said he wanted a “clean win” but that relying on the judges’ cards didn’t allow that.

Of course, one could wonder if pitting St-Pierre against a fellow wrestling stand-out such as Fitch would provide the same result. Wouldn’t the second fight look like the first – or at the very least, prove yet another easy win for St-Pierre that lacked his once-crowd-pleasing standup game?

Fitch found a supporter in his potential opponent.

“It’s never the same competitor,” St-Pierre said. “It’s never the same guy.

“(Fitch) isn’t the same guy he was when I fought him the first time. He’s a much, much better [fighter]. And I’m not the same fighter I was when I fought him the first time.”

Despite the endorsement from the champ, White wasn’t ready to claim Fitch a No. 1 contender just yet.

“He’s in the mix,” White said. “There’s no doubt he’s in the mix.”

In fact, White had another idea for Fitch: a fight with Josh Koscheck, who next meets Paul Daley in a likely No. 1 contender’s bout at UFC 113.

“Maybe we do [Fitch] and Koscheck for the No. 1 (contender),” said White, who’s long expressed dissatisfaction with the concept of fighters not wanting to fight their teammates.

Would Fitch be open to that – a fight with a fellow top contender who also happens to be one of his closest teammates?

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?